The White House budget director dropped a hint about how Trump could bring drug prices down

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Trump has repeatedly said that drug prices are too high but has often suggested that increased bidding would be the best way to bring down prices. It has been unclear how that would work or whether Congress would support it. Mulvaney appeared to suggest something even closer to government price-setting Thursday, drawing a direct comparison to Medicaid, which has mandatory rebates off the average manufacturer’s price and is also insulated against drug prices that rise faster than inflation.

“I was shocked to hear this from the mouth of Mick Mulvaney,” said Rachel Sachs, associate professor at the Washington University School of Law. “The idea that we’re going to pay Medicaid rates for the Medicare population is just something I’ve never heard from most of the Republican officials. It’s something President Obama has been proposing for years, and that had been roundly criticized.”